The present invention relates generally to a system for handling poultry and more particularly to a means, device or apparatus to effect the efficient handling of live poultry in the loading of the same at a farm site for transport therefrom.
Historically, poultry farming was carried out by raising poultry in houses on farm sites until such poultry was ready for delivery either at a particular time in its life, or during a particular season. The poultry was then caught, loaded, and transported to a final destination.
The poultry was customarily gathered manually at the houses, boxed or crated with numerous birds per crate, manually loaded aboard an open truck or van, and transported. The problems created by such a procedure are both numerous and significant. The manual handling of the poultry not only creates a materially high cost involved in raising the poultry and preparing them for market, but it also creates certain physical dangers to both the poultry as well as the personnel.
During hand catching and subsequent handling of poultry, some birds are bruised, injured, or even killed due to violent reaction from the birds or unintentional rough handling. Additionally, fowl inevitably beat their wings in an effort to escape upon capture, frequently resulting in a bird striking the handler with sufficient force to cause physical injury.
In light of the preceding problems, there has been an effort in the art to develop a method of loading poultry for transport with a minimal amount of manual labor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,7060,300, issued Dec. 19, 1972 describes a system for handling poultry and transferring the same from poultry house to processing plant or purchases. This is accomplished by a process in which suction is applied to the poultry in the house to urge the poultry into a conveying conduit where air pressure is subsequently applied for forcing the poultry along the conduit and into a suitable bin. Air pressure is again used to urge the poultry out of the bin and into the processing plant. Although this system utilizing air pressure does solve some of the problems associated with that of manual labor, it does not solve all of the problems and even creates a few new ones. Air pressure tends to force the poultry through the loading system, and does not allow for a smooth and even flow. This constant forcing inevitably damages the poultry in some way, including broken legs and/or wings, which results in an adverse affect on their grading when dressed, and consequently a loss of revenue to the producer.
Another attempt to solve the problems associated with loading poultry on a transport vehicle was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,835, issued Nov. 4, 1975. This patent describes a complete conveying system that utilizes conveyors on the poultry transport vehicle that may be operated in conjunction with other external conveyors to effect embarkation and debarkation of the transport. If external conveyors are desired, this disclosure provides for an elevator and coupling assembly for coupling an external conveyor unit at selective heights to the various tiers of the poultry conveying transport apparatus.
Although manpower and its associated high costs are reduced with the use of such a conveying system, problems still remain. This patent discloses the combination of a main conveying apparatus, external conveyors and an elevator and coupling assembly. This assembly is integral to the main apparatus, and the changing of tier positions during loading and unloading cannot be accomplished solely by the external conveyors. Additionally, manual labor is still needed to load and unload the bottom of the external conveyors. Still another problem with this external conveyor is the steep angle at which the poultry are handled, causing the poultry to become uneasy, and "Roll Back" to occur.
In view of the afore-mentioned needs and the shortcomings of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that overcomes the deficiencies of the current practices whereby an apparatus and system is provided for loading poultry for transport with a minimum amount of labor and with maximum efficiency at a minimum cost.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a poultry loading apparatus whereby the manual and perhaps rough handling of the poultry is eliminated thereby eliminated damage sustained by laborers and minimizing any damages sustained to the poultry.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile poultry loading apparatus that can be shared among poultry houses, farms, or even town due to its adaptability to all trailers.
Still another object of the present invention to provide a self-cleaning and disinfecting poultry loading apparatus.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a user friendly poultry loading apparatus that may be operated effectively by a single person.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.